orangeapples
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First of all, I apologize about the length of this post. But I think I need to explain my situation in order to get proper help.
I'm 21 years old and currently am a "theist" I guess. I don't follow any religion but I do believe in God. I am not agnostic, I think God exists but I am not sure which religion is right. I have studied religions (mostly into Abrahamic ones) for the past two years like crazy. I know what they are all about for the most part but I have a mental disorder that I want to get under control first and need some more time to be in the right state of mind in order to commit to a religion. To me it's either Islam or Christianity. I know the differences between them and I am not here to ask questions regarding theology at the moment, I have a problem I need to fix first.
I have a severe case of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. If you dont know what that is, its basically unwanted thoughts and obsessions and compulsive acts to stop them.
I have always had these thoughts, from early childhood about bad things like "If I don't do a certain thing (for example touch something) something horrible will happen like a family member dying" so I would have to touch that thing. This has usually surrounded around the death of me or someone I love. When I started researching religion in 2008, this became much worse. It started to turn into bad thoughts about God and religion. I got really scared but then I was told that God knows I don't mean these thoughts, so that did comfort me. But here is where it all went downhill. I started having thoughts about selling my soul. These thoughts kept coming up and I got so scared that if I sold my soul I would goto Hell/give my life and soul to evil/lose it forever, that whatever the thought said (for example... touch this or touch that) I would have to do the act in order for my soul to be safe. Now this became a problem because sometimes I'd have thoughts like "if I goto work then I will do that bad thing" (sorry I don't want to even type 'sell soul') but then I cant not goto work because I'd get fired. So to combat this, I would make little "deals" or say it out loud that If I don't goto work, then I will do the 'bad thing' aka sell soul. I was basically using my fear to try and fight OCD. But it just backfired and made things worse.
Sorry if this is hard to follow, I know it's irrational and probably crazy, but I'm getting help and trying to combat this. So basically my problem in regards to Islam is this:
One thing that I wanted to do before learning about religion was remove a mole/birth mark on my nose that I thought was ugly. I'm not sure if I was born with it or got it when I was a kid but I hated it always and want to remove it. It is a flat mole not one of those big ones that stick out. I started having thoughts about you know what and I have made one of these "deals" or "contracts" where if I don't remove a mole on my nose that I hate -- I would do the "bad thing"
The problem is that now I have learned that "altering your body for cosmetic reasons" is a sin/haram. I know that I am not a Muslim at the moment so it's not like this applies to me, but for some reason I still feel like I am doing the wrong thing. I am altering God's creation. I feel like I'm trapped. On one hand, if I don't remove the mole I am scared I will sell and on the other hand I feel like I am going against God. Now I am not a Muslim but for some reason I still am scared. Perhaps because I know I will become religious in the future -- once my OCD is under control and I figure out what I truly believe.
The thing is, I feel like I am still going against God, changing something permanentely. How can this sin be forgiven? Is it worse than something like drinking a beer which is a one time thing not for life? But then I think if I dont do this I will go insane and be so scared about selling my soul that maybe I should just do it and hope God will understand my situation? I don't even want to remove it for beauty reasons anymroe -- I couldnt care less -- but I feel like I have to for my OCD reasons.
Someone told me that when you convert to Islam, all past sins are forgiven. So all my sins including this one would be forgiven. But I am worried I am using that as an excuse, and almost feel like it's cheating. Like I know this sin would be forgiven if I converted, so if I do it before I convert it`s ok. I feel like thats taking advantage and I dont want to do that. Uhg, I hate this... I want to just trust in God but I hate that I made these little compulsions.... even if they arent possible they drive me crazy. The thought of losing my soul scares me to death.
But I'm rambling now. To wrap this up, basically all I am asking is:
a) is it a sin to remove this mole in my case (its a flat mole that is fairly small but noticable, the kind people have all over but its right on my nose)
b) what do you suggest I do? Will God understand and forgive this if I do end up converting to Islam?
Thank you for any answer, again, I'm sorry if this is boring or I sound like I'm crazy/stupid. I know I am irrational and need help, I am currently going to be getting professional help and I don't want to become religious until then because I am worried it will harm my spirtual journey. Thanks and God bless you all.
I'm 21 years old and currently am a "theist" I guess. I don't follow any religion but I do believe in God. I am not agnostic, I think God exists but I am not sure which religion is right. I have studied religions (mostly into Abrahamic ones) for the past two years like crazy. I know what they are all about for the most part but I have a mental disorder that I want to get under control first and need some more time to be in the right state of mind in order to commit to a religion. To me it's either Islam or Christianity. I know the differences between them and I am not here to ask questions regarding theology at the moment, I have a problem I need to fix first.
I have a severe case of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. If you dont know what that is, its basically unwanted thoughts and obsessions and compulsive acts to stop them.
I have always had these thoughts, from early childhood about bad things like "If I don't do a certain thing (for example touch something) something horrible will happen like a family member dying" so I would have to touch that thing. This has usually surrounded around the death of me or someone I love. When I started researching religion in 2008, this became much worse. It started to turn into bad thoughts about God and religion. I got really scared but then I was told that God knows I don't mean these thoughts, so that did comfort me. But here is where it all went downhill. I started having thoughts about selling my soul. These thoughts kept coming up and I got so scared that if I sold my soul I would goto Hell/give my life and soul to evil/lose it forever, that whatever the thought said (for example... touch this or touch that) I would have to do the act in order for my soul to be safe. Now this became a problem because sometimes I'd have thoughts like "if I goto work then I will do that bad thing" (sorry I don't want to even type 'sell soul') but then I cant not goto work because I'd get fired. So to combat this, I would make little "deals" or say it out loud that If I don't goto work, then I will do the 'bad thing' aka sell soul. I was basically using my fear to try and fight OCD. But it just backfired and made things worse.
Sorry if this is hard to follow, I know it's irrational and probably crazy, but I'm getting help and trying to combat this. So basically my problem in regards to Islam is this:
One thing that I wanted to do before learning about religion was remove a mole/birth mark on my nose that I thought was ugly. I'm not sure if I was born with it or got it when I was a kid but I hated it always and want to remove it. It is a flat mole not one of those big ones that stick out. I started having thoughts about you know what and I have made one of these "deals" or "contracts" where if I don't remove a mole on my nose that I hate -- I would do the "bad thing"
The problem is that now I have learned that "altering your body for cosmetic reasons" is a sin/haram. I know that I am not a Muslim at the moment so it's not like this applies to me, but for some reason I still feel like I am doing the wrong thing. I am altering God's creation. I feel like I'm trapped. On one hand, if I don't remove the mole I am scared I will sell and on the other hand I feel like I am going against God. Now I am not a Muslim but for some reason I still am scared. Perhaps because I know I will become religious in the future -- once my OCD is under control and I figure out what I truly believe.
The thing is, I feel like I am still going against God, changing something permanentely. How can this sin be forgiven? Is it worse than something like drinking a beer which is a one time thing not for life? But then I think if I dont do this I will go insane and be so scared about selling my soul that maybe I should just do it and hope God will understand my situation? I don't even want to remove it for beauty reasons anymroe -- I couldnt care less -- but I feel like I have to for my OCD reasons.
Someone told me that when you convert to Islam, all past sins are forgiven. So all my sins including this one would be forgiven. But I am worried I am using that as an excuse, and almost feel like it's cheating. Like I know this sin would be forgiven if I converted, so if I do it before I convert it`s ok. I feel like thats taking advantage and I dont want to do that. Uhg, I hate this... I want to just trust in God but I hate that I made these little compulsions.... even if they arent possible they drive me crazy. The thought of losing my soul scares me to death.
But I'm rambling now. To wrap this up, basically all I am asking is:
a) is it a sin to remove this mole in my case (its a flat mole that is fairly small but noticable, the kind people have all over but its right on my nose)
b) what do you suggest I do? Will God understand and forgive this if I do end up converting to Islam?
Thank you for any answer, again, I'm sorry if this is boring or I sound like I'm crazy/stupid. I know I am irrational and need help, I am currently going to be getting professional help and I don't want to become religious until then because I am worried it will harm my spirtual journey. Thanks and God bless you all.